Tag Archives: composting

Food Waste management in the U.S.

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Food waste is a massive problem in the United States.  Currently, a large portion of food is wasted in the United States and this wasted food ends up in various places.  These charts document the pathways in where wasted food ends up after it goes unused in 2018.  The column chart on the left depicts the weight in US tons of wasted food and approximately how many tons of wasted food end up in each place.  As you can see, the largest number of wasted food ends up in landfills with 35,277,543 tons of wasted food managed by landfills.  This massive number dwarfs any other pathway for wasted food.  For instance, wasted food used on land application is only 259,448.  The amount of wasted food that ends up in landfills is 135.97 times greater than the amount of wasted food used for land application.  The pie chart on the left details the same numbers however this chart gives the percentages of where wasted food ends up. As you can see more clearly, all other pathways for wasted food combined are less than the percentage of wasted food that goes to landfills.  In 2018, 55.9% of all wasted food was sent to landfills and not used in any other constructive way.  Out of the 63,132,123 tons of food wasted in 2018, 35,277,543 tons of that food ended up in landfills.  Not only is it horribly unsustainable to waste  food, but the methods in which wasted food is used afterwards is even more unsustainable and is contributing to the problems that we are seeing today.

Works Cited:

https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/food-material-specific-data#:~:text=The%20estimated%2035.3%20million%20tons,percent%20of%20all%20MSW%20landfilled.

Recycling and composting trends (1960-2018)

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I complied a bar graph that showed the percentage increase in the number of different materials that was increased from 1960 on. This shows that through the years the amount of things recycled has increased along with having more things being able to be recycled. This could be caused by the increase in education and the advancements in technology.

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2005 2010 2015 2017 2018
Paper and Paperboard 17% 15% 21% 28% 43% 50% 63% 67% 66% 68%
Glass 2% 1% 5% 20% 23% 21% 27% 28% 25% 25%
Plastics Neg. Neg. <1% 2% 6% 6% 8% 9% 9% 9%
Yard Trimmings Neg. Neg. Neg. 12% 52% 62% 58% 61% 69% 63%
Lead-acid Batteries Neg. 76% 70% 97% 93% 96% 99% 99% 99% 99%

Data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency.  National Overview: Facts and Figures on Materials, Wastes, and Recycling.

 

(sorry if the image is blurry- my laptop was being difficult)

Composting is Convenient!

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Composting has been a method of disposing food waste that many people use in more rural parts of the county for years; however, as we have seen, cities are beginning and have already implemented composting programs. One can see from the EPA’s data that composting has increased from 23.4 million tons a year to 24.9  million tons between 2015 and 2018 (EPA). If a family wants to compost, there are strict rules for what one can put in their compost pile. No animal products can go into compost. This is because of the high amount of fat that does not decompose well (Pela, 1). Meat can also attract pests which is a concern depending on where one lives. Another factor is that raw animal products may have bacteria such as E. coli which thrive in warm, humid environments like a compost pile (Pela, 1).  Now you may be wondering why Union allows us to compost any and all food scraps? This is because Union supposedly sends the waste to a high heat composting facility. They introduce heat in a controlled environment to break down all food scraps without the fear of introducing bacteria to the soil. Many people decide not to compost due to concerns about pests and a misunderstanding of its time commitment. However, in reality, if you rake your leaves into a pile on the edge of your property, you are already composting. It is just a matter of being consistent and having a container in your kitchen to quickly dispose of scraps daily before emptying them into your compost pile.

 

https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/national-overview-facts-and-figures-materials

https://pela.earth/blogs/news/can-you-compost-meat

Wasting Food and Its Impact

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Composting is a practice employed by gardeners and farmers in which they replenish and enrich the soil with leftover yard/food waste. In addition to enrich the soil and helping plants grow, composting reduces the emissions of methane. This is due to the fact when left in landfills, organic waste generates methane. By separating out organic waste into compost, a significant amount of methane emissions are reduced. Composting also promotes soil’s water retention, which in turn means there is less water waste.

In 2018, an estimated 2.6 million tons of food was composted, which is the equivalent of one person composting .42 pounds of food per day. However, since composting isn’t part of peoples’ daily routine (everyone has a garbage can, but how many people have a composting bin?), we waste about 1.4 billion tons of food. Americans waste the most food annually at a whopping 80 billion pounds. Our food waste could be significantly reduced if we began implementing a steady routine of composting. Normalizing and standardizing composting would reduce the size of landfills as well as improve the agricultural climate.

Before the COVID pandemic, 35 million Americans had food insecurity. Today,  50 million Americans have food insecurity. With over 80% of food waste coming from households and restaurants, there is such a real difference we could be making to reallocate food waste either to those in need and with food insecurity, or to compost facilities to add to long term improvement.

 

https://www.rts.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/RTS_Food_Waste_Guide_2021.pdf

https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/reducing-impact-wasted-food-feeding-soil-and-composting